V1: Chapter 66: She Wanted to Leave

"Then, we'll just have to..."

Liang Lin drew her sword from her waist.

Ulysses and Terence both became alert.

Terence shouted "Oh no!" He stood beside Liang Lin and reached out to snatch the sword away.

"Pfft!"

Before he could even touched, he was stabbed in the kidney by the hilt of the sword.

Terence clutched his kidney, writhing in pain on the ground.

Ulysses ignored his son's screaming on the ground, casually breaking off a table leg (table: ?), and swung it at Liang Lin.

Liang Lin dodged, but also delivered a blow to Ulysses' kidney. Ulysses staggered and fell to the ground.

"Why are you getting more and more useless, Ulysses?"

"Watch closely, Ulysses, this is a sword technique unique to the Kronin family."

The sword technique is unique to the Kronin family, skillfully utilizing both body movements and the sword with fluidity and ease.

Ulysses froze on the spot.

Bang!

Startled, Liang Lin, who was engrossed in the performance, saw Ulysses' knees buckle and he knelt directly on the ground.

No, what.....?

"Miss Marquis…" Ulysses was practically in tears.

Hah?

This is a bit sudden.

And, Miss Marquis, what the heck?!

Ulysses recognized it; it was indeed his Marquis.

That sword technique, and those little habits, were all the Marquis's usual moves. He had watched it thousands of times; he knew it by heart.

Liang Lin sheathed her sword and saw her former subordinate, an elderly man, weeping uncontrollably. She was instantly at a loss, unsure whether to help him up or offer words of comfort.

Terrence, seeing his elderly father crying like a dog, was also bewildered. He stopped rolling on the ground, his pain vanished, and he stared at his father, then at Liang Lin, utterly confused.

"My Lord Marquis—do you know what I've been living these past few months?!"

Ulysses cried even harder. He stumbled to his feet, arms outstretched, intending to give Liang Lin a muscular hug as he used to.

Seeing this large figure charging straight at her, Liang Lin was terrified.

Her face turned deathly pale, but her body reacted faster than her brain. She delivered a spinning kick, landing heavily on Ulysses' shoulder.

"Get away from me!"

Thump!

Ulysses fell back to the ground, arching his back, sobbing uncontrollably.

"You, at your age, crying like this, aren't you ashamed?"

Liang Lin said irritably.

"Stand up, like a soldier! I'd be ashamed to call you my subordinate if you act like this."

Ah~ that familiar reprimand, it was so reassuring.

"Yes, sir!"

Ulysses stood up and gave Liang Lin a practiced military salute.

Terrence stood to the side, seemingly in a daze.

"Wait, what happened here, you two...?"

Terrence: (#ﾟДﾟ)

Ulysses, without any hesitation, slapped his son on the head.

"Quick! Say hello! She's much older than you, call her Uncle!"

Liang Lin: "..."

Terrence: "Hah? Uncle?"

Ulysses slapped his son on the head again. "Say hello! Call her Uncle, you child, how can you be so rude?"

Looking at the beautiful noblewoman in front of him, Terence couldn't understand how she was associated with the word "Uncle."

"Uncle..."

"No, no need, you two can just call me Miss."

Liang Lin raised her hand, covering her eyes, unable to bear looking.

"But, how did you become like this, Miss?" Ulysses felt awkward using that title.

Liang Lin shrugged, indicating she didn't know either.

"Can you still remember my name, Ulysses?" Liang Lin asked.

“Sure.”

“What’s my name?” Liang Lin asked expectantly, pricking up her ears to listen carefully.

“******”

A familiar static sound.

The expected result.

It felt like her name was being blocked by some mysterious force; everyone else could hear it, but it just wouldn’t reach her ears.

“Tsk, just as I thought.”

She asked Terence, who was still confused, “Can you hear my name?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… I understand.”

Perhaps, this was an inexplicable supernatural phenomenon.

Liang Lin was gradually accepting these strange phenomena, finding everything quite reasonable; after all, even Liang Di had tentacles.

Looking at the dilapidated surroundings, Liang Lin clicked her tongue in disgust and untied her purse from her waist.

“Here, don’t stay in this run-down place anymore; it’ll make me look bad if people talk. Get a nice place to stay, eat well.”

Her expression was steady, resolute, and solemn.

“And finally,... wait for me.”

These two words were firm and powerful. Ulysses’ eyes welled up with tears again.

"Roger!"

"Huh? So, she's really the Marquis *****." Terence belatedly realized.

"Yes."

"Damn," Terence exclaimed, his eyes filled with admiration. He pulled a quill pen from his pocket and respectfully handed it to Liang Lin.

"Marquis *****, could you sign my name? I admire you so much! You're my idol! I've always aspired to be like you!"

"Call me Miss..."

"Yes, Miss Marquis."

"..."

After a brief commotion, Ulysses recounted the hardships he endured on his journey from the border to the capital.

Liang Lin sighed, feeling guilty towards her subordinates.

"If I hadn't died, you wouldn't have ended up in this state."

As she spoke, she tossed the purse she was holding onto a table with only three legs remaining.

Crash!

The table toppled over.

"..."

"Now, immediately, right now, move to a different house."

Liang Lin sighed, rubbing her forehead.

“Oh, right, Miss, there are other brothers who came to the capital with me.”

“Tomorrow I’ll take a few more bags of silver coins, so you won’t have to suffer here.”

At this moment, Liang Lin’s mindset also changed.

She wanted to leave the capital.

She wanted to return to the border.

Here, she was just a noble lady, a notoriously disreputable rogue noble lady. Only on the battlefield could she showcase her talents and feel that her life had meaning.

She… wanted to leave.

But this was something Liang Lin absolutely could not accept.

The swordsmanship competition arrived as scheduled.

Liang Lin put on a men’s wig, covered the lower half of her face with a black cloak, leaving only her eyes exposed, and wore platform shoes. At first glance, she really did look like a thin, small boy.

She blended into the crowd, very inconspicuous, and no one noticed her, which was exactly the result Liang Lin wanted.

There were many participants, probably around a thousand. Liang Lin's number was 627, and she wouldn't be able to compete until the afternoon.

In the preliminary rounds, to save time, the participants were divided into groups of twelve, battling in six-on-six fashion. Six remained to continue battling, and only the final three advanced.

The men around her were all tall and strong, with muscular physiques. There were a few skinny boys like Liang Lin, but not many. Everyone thought that boys like her were just cannon fodder, stepping stones for others.

Liang Lin, however, enjoyed this feeling of playing the fool. She even found the mockery around her exhilarating.

"Great, I love how you look down on me now."